September's Garden (2025)

The weather at night has cooled, there were two good days of rain and the garden revived. The heat and drought returned but there is still good news to share. 

There will be green beans after all! It won't be as many as I had wanted (because a rascally rabbit stole most of my seedlings late one night) but there will be a harvest! The row in the front of the garden that he missed is beginning to produce.

The quickly purchased Strike green beans which were advertised to be ready in 45 days have tiny blooms. In last month's post they were about six inches tall so there just might be a decent harvest before frost. It looks like the seed catalog might have been right for once.

 

These tomatoes were all started from trimmed suckers in the spring by just shoving them deeply into soggy ground. It was easy until the heat arrived and then it was impossible to get anything to root. Lesson learned. Next year the experiment will continue because it was an easy way to get fall tomatoes.

The Volunteer half runner pole beans which were also quickly ordered have run up the fence and are reaching for the sky.  This morning I found tiny beans.  Already, I am impressed with their fast growth. If the flavor is good, these will be grown next year, and the next, and the next....

The shaded area under trees in the back with empty spots caused by the naughty rabbit, was planted again with more green beans. It is beginning to produce, although a bit spindly, but it answers whether beans will grow in the shade. The wasted space will, at least, produce some beans. I would prefer to get a puny yield as opposed to letting weeds run rampant. 

This experiment has been a success. Okra slows and drops leaves as the nights cool so lettuce was planted in the shade underneath.  It didn't immediately bolt and it was a useful way to use an empty area.

The squash under the cherry tomatoes on the edge of the shade is finally producing. Other squash planted during past years further back in deeper shade didn't do well at all. It seems the edge of shade will be the dividing point from now on for squash.

The bell peppers under the lima bean arch that were planted in the massive manure pile from two years ago, have all gone wild. That manure pile has been the gift that just keeps giving.

The branches are beginning to break causing the peppers to dry on the vines. This is the second time we have stripped them down.

My freezer is full, so these will be chopped and dehydrated for long term storage. Next year, fewer bell peppers will be grown and instead in their place, jalapenos. They will be needed for pickling because they haven't been grown in three years. The supply is dwindling. Also, I want to search for a sweeter paprika for spice since I want to learn how to do cold smoking. This year isn't over and I am already planning next year's garden.

One of the wax melons developed a hole. The seed catalog ranked them as one of the most difficult things to grow. They weren't kidding. 

This makes four that have either rotted or fallen off the fence. I'm not panicked yet. There are still more growing.

 

This massive one seems to still be doing fine. All I want is one to survive to maturity to see if we like it.

Since it won't live much longer, we decided to cut the rotting one down. The stem was still green so it wasn't ripe. 

It had the texture of cantaloupe which made sense, it is a melon but it lacked any flavor. It was bland but juicy. There was a tiny hint of sweetness. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. It definitely needs to grow longer.

Even though we weren't impressed, we decided to get a second opinion. It failed the sniff test.

Summer hasn't ended and fall hasn't arrived. I'm ready for cool days and a slower life. It hasn't happened yet but it will. I'm so ready.

Last Month's August Garden (2025)

Last Year's September Garden (2024)

August's Garden (2025)

 

It has been a month of change. The rain stopped and the temperature soared, of course. This area is now in an abnormally dry drought. The garden is stressed and struggling, (just like us), but we continue to plant the empty areas, hand water, harvest, and prepare for fall. 

The purple hull peas have finished. They put out a huge crop at first and then the production slowed. Some people rip them out and plant again but I have never wanted to do the extra work. We have always continued to harvest until they finished. Perhaps next year I will have an abundance of energy and try planting them twice to see the difference it makes - but that's a big maybe. 

The cucumber plants look horrible but they are still producing two or three cucumbers every day. All we need is enough for us to eat fresh because the pickling and dehydrating is finished. Hopefully, they will hold out until the fall seedlings begin producing.

North Carolina Pickling cucumbers are small, white and stay crisp when pickled. The tiny ones are pickled whole for one son and then those that get larger are used to make all the other pickles. The small dehydrated bits are added to tzatziki sauce as a thickener.

Underneath the soon to be finished cucumber vines are Volunteer Half Runner pole green beans. They were recommended by a commenter since my pole beans never produced anything but leaves. If we have a late fall, they might make it. 

Speaking of green beans, one rabbit in a single night's time wiped out almost all of the bean seedlings which filled the whole back area of the garden.  He squeezed in under the new gate but has since paid dearly for his deadly mistake.  

These are Strike Green Beans which were quickly ordered and planted in every empty spot. They are supposed to mature within 45 days. There is no way they can produce enough before winter so yesterday we took a trip to the Amish auction. I was horrified at the outrageous prices!  A shoe box of green beans sold for $41!!! I did not buy any.

An unbelievable surprise has been the Giant Bullet Head Wax melon. They are growing massive. The "giant" in their name is the truth.

We lost one because the stem broke so we set them on flower pots to support their hefty weight. One of the pots caved in and broke another melon. Each one is like lifting three watermelons. 

Hopefully, we can get at least one to harvest so we can taste it. When we open it, there will be a big wintertime celebration and we might invite the whole town for a feast.

As for the rest of the garden, the cherry tomatoes in part shade are surviving. Their production isn't as good as full sun but it is still enough for us. That experiment worked. 

Planted in the furthest back corner under the cherry tomatoes is the long vined Tahitian Butternut squash. It was put there because I knew it would run to the sun and fill the empty space under the cherry tomatoes. Even though they are in deep shade, everything is producing well enough to go there again. It is a good use of a difficult area.

The winter squash that are in full sun are ecstatic.

The heat loving Lima beans, peppers and peanuts have not minded being scorched at all.

Rain is forecast in a few days and the temperature is dropping.  Fall is coming. It looks like even in spite of the uncooperative weather and pillaging rabbits, we are having a great harvest.

Last Month's July Garden (2025)

Last Year's August Garden (2024)

July's Garden (2025)

It is incredible how quickly a garden can produce a large volume during the summer. When the rain is abundant, the vegetables are bounteous. We had a wet spring and it has been amazing.

THESE ARE THEGETABLES THAT ARE GROWING NOW

Eggplant

Cantaloupes (2 varieties)

Celery (2 varieties)

Cucumbers

Green Beans (7 varieties)

Lettuce (2 varieties are bolting and providing seeds)

Lima Beans

Okra

Peanuts

Peppers (3 varieties)

Purple Hull Peas

Squash (4 varieties)

Sweet Potatoes

Tomatoes (9 varieties)

Walking Onions

Watermelon

Wax melon

HERBS

Basil

Chamomile

Chives

Cilantro

Dill

Ginger

Oregano

Parsley

Strawberries (dormant)

Stevia

The last row of potatoes was just dug and in total there was almost 90 pounds. The empty rows were planted with fall crops. The yellow squash that replaced the broccoli under the cover is about to bloom so it is almost time to remove the net. The wish was that it would keep squash vine borers away and hopefully, some fruit could be produced before being infested.

However, just like last year, the June Bugs arrived and tore through the netting! If there is one squash vine borer within a hundred miles, I'm sure he found the hole. Heavier types of nets have been purchased and will be tested and then when something better is found, I will throw this junk away.

It has taken three years of failures but for the first time, I have wax melons!  It can take up to a month for the seeds to germinate so this time I put them in a cup on the front porch in the full sun. Two sprouted and each one is planted at opposite ends of this fence. Tomatoes are trailing up and the wax melons are aggressively spreading below. 

As they spread out into the aisle, they are directed (kicked) back underneath the tomatoes.

However, one vine got away from me and smothered  a tomato plant on this upper end. It was allowed to overtake this edge of the fence as an experiment since I don't know if it is best for it to hang or be on the ground. 

The melons are massive. One has already broken off during a storm so the other one that is hanging on the support fence has received extra support. I have never seen nor eaten one so this is exciting. They are supposed to be mildly sweet without much flavor and are used as a base in soups and dishes. Because of their thick skins, they can store deep into the winter and were a survival food long before refrigeration.

After snipping away leaves, two more were discovered safely resting on the ground. One was tied to the fence to keep it from rolling out into the aisle. Supposedly it is ripe when the stem is dry.

This magnificent looking row of green beans has been quite disappointing. McCaslan green beans are sold to the big farms around here and are quite popular. For three years, I grew them in different shady areas of the garden and assumed the poor performance was due to a lack of sunshine. They are now planted in full sun, tomorrow is the first day of August and we haven't gotten two handfuls of beans from the whole row! At least there are a few blooms beginning to appear but this is their last chance.

The deeply shaded back corner behind the cherry tomatoes was an area being saved for early winter vegetables but instead, it has just been planted with different varieties of bush beans. They are needed desperately. Summer is half over and not one jar has been canned for the winter. Hopefully, they will sprout and do something.  

It has been a good year and there are no complaints so far. All it takes is a little rain to make me happy...and maybe a big piece of watermelon. 

Last Month's June Garden (2025)

Last Year's July Garden (2024)